Monday, 4 January 2010

When South African exile musician Chris McGregor died in May 1990, there was already a respectable, though not entirely representative, discography of his work, both in Europe and in South Africa. But like any jazz musician, he played gigs all over the UK and Europe, some of which were recorded, but never released.
Since his death a number of albums of
previously un-released material have come out and they fill in the
gaps most admirably. The albums are both of live gigs and studio
recordings and they make interesting listening.
The last album that Chris recorded with
the Brotherhood of Breath in a studio was the great Virgin release
Country Cooking (1988) (released again in 2001 on French label
Great Winds/Musea). It is a great album, possibly the greatest
Brotherhood album.
In 1989 Chris was on tour with the
Brotherhood with guest artist Archie Shepp. They played a concert at
the Banlieues Bleues in Paris which was released as En Concert a
Banlieues Bleues in 1989 on the French label 52 Rue Est. This
album features some great solos by the guest and the usual band
members, but unfortunately it also features a rather out of tune
piano. Chris had wanted to stop the release of the album, feeling it
was not up to standard, but for contractual reasons the release had
to go on. The music is nevertheless great – a wonderful song called
“Sangena” sung by Sonti Mndebele, with the band roaring
enthusiastically behind her, is just a delight.
The band was on tour again in early
1990. Chris fell ill on the tour and died before it had been
completed. The following are the releases of previously unreleased
recordings issued after Chris's death

SA Exiles' Thunderbolt

In 1986 Chris put together a band which
he called the “South African Exiles' Thunderbolt.” This band was
in a sense a musical response to the situation back in South Africa
where then President P.W. Botha had decreed a “State of Emergency”,
basically martial law, in an attempt to contain the rising resistance
to apartheid. Personal freedoms and other freedoms like that of the
press were being systematically, sometimes quite brutally,
suppressed. People lived in constant fear and anger, and violence was
increasing dramatically. At the forefront of the resistance, though
not of the violence, was an organisation called the United Democratic
Front (UDF).
The Thunderbolt went on tour through
Europe playing many festivals and other gigs. This album was recorded
at Mainz, Germany, on 17 May 1986.
Chris wrote the following “personal
statement” to explain how he saw the Thunderbolt project: “Humanity
is essentially a unity. The realisation of this unity on earth is our
greatest task today. This is not idealistic – it is the only chance
the human race has to survive on this earth. We come from a society
in which separateness – apartheid – is institutionalised. The
destructive power of this separation becomes daily more obvious. We
wish our Thunderbolt to be a celebration of the end of separateness
and its concomitant fascist oppression – for we know that the
present murderous attacks on innocent and powerless people represent
the dying throes of a monster. Our music, song and dance are also an
affirmation of human values – we give them to show appreciation to
those who realise that our struggle is theirs also. The world wide
interest in events in South Africa and near universal condemnation of
apartheid is a potent indication of the dawning unity of humankind.”
(from the liner notes of the CD).
The musicians on the gig were, with one
exception, South Africans long in exile: Dudu Pukwana, the ebullient
alto player; Johnny Mbizo Dyani and Ernest Mothle, great bassists,
great musicians, great people; Gilbert Matthews, master drummer;
Pinise Saul, wonderful singer; and great guitarist Lucky Ranku,
although he is not, for some reason, credited.
One of the outstanding tracks is
“Magwazakazo” which features Ranku in a performance of rare
beauty. Another track of note is “UDF” composed by Dyani in
tribute to the organisation “back home.”
The album was released in 1997 by
Popular African Music, a label of Günter
Gretz.

The Cuneiform Albums

Cuneiform Records of Silver Spring,
Maryland, USA, released three live albums of Brotherhood of Breath
gigs.
The first of these was called
Travelling Somewhere and was recorded in January 1973 in
Berlin. It was exceptionally well recorded and shows the Brotherhood
in fine fettle. The line up consists of Harry
Beckett, Mark Charig and Mongezi Feza (trumpets), Nick Evans and
Malcolm Griffiths (trombones), Mike Osborne, Evan Parker, Dudu
Pukwana and Gary Windo (saxes), Chris McGregor (piano), Harry Miller
(double bass) and Louis Moholo-Moholo (drums).
The second, released in 2004, is a
double album called Bremen to Bridgwater and actually covers
three gigs: the first gig was a Radio Bremen concert at Lila Eule in
June 1971; the second gig was at the Bridgwater Art Centre,
Bridgwater, England in February 1975; the third, also at the
Bridgewater, in November 1975.
The third album, called Eclipse at
Dawn, was released in 2008 and was recorded in November 1971 at
the Berliner Philharmonie Jazztage.
These three albums show the Brotherhood
in great form. The Bremen to Bridgwater album has several tracks of
extended playing featuring the trademark Brotherhood mix of great
playing to written charts with some ecstatic moments of free playing
– order dissolving into chaos and coming back to order again, which
was Chris's great genius, being able to write charts of exceptional
beauty while feeling comfortable to let the players also express
their own ideas and feelings.
There are on this album also two tracks
simply called “untitled original”, one by that wonderful British
alto player Mike Osborne and one by Chris.
The Bridgewater album also has a
great mix of great names in British and European jazz in the lineup:
Harry Beckett on trumpet; Elton Dean and Mike Osborne on alto; Nick
Evans and Malcolm Griffiths on trombone; Evan Parker and Alan
Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenors; and of course the great South
Africans Dudu Pukwana on alto; Mongezi Feza on trumpet; Harry Miller
on bass and Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums. A powerful line up indeed,
with Chris urging the whole outfit on from the piano.
The Eclipse at Dawn album has
more modest line up that still burns with bright energy: the
ever-steady Harry Beckett and Marc Charig on trumpet; Nick Evans and
Malcolm Griffiths on trombone; Harry Miller on bass; Louis
Moholo-Moholo on drums; Dudu Pukwana on alto and Alan Skidmore and
Gary Windo on tenor.
All three albums are superb productions
with great liner notes and photos. More about them can be found here:
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/brotherhood.html

The Fleg'ling Albums

In 2008 English record company
Fledg'ling released two albums which had been recorded in 1969 by producer Joe Boyd and not released at the time. As Boyd writes in the liner
notes to the first of these albums, Up To Earth, “It's hard
to remember why this record never got released. I suppose it was
because my relationship with Polydor had soured and my new ally,
Island Records, was not exactly a jazz label.”
“I do remember,” he goes on,
“however, how exciting were the sessions.”
These two albums, Up To Earth,
which features a septet of the best of jazz musicians playing in
Britain at the time, and Our Prayer, showcase Chris's music
starting to evolve from its roots into a new space and energy.
The musicians on Up To Earth
were some British musicians Chris enjoyed playing with, and the
US/French bassist Barre Philips. The others in the septet were John
Surman on bass clarinet or baritone sax; Evan Parker on tenor; and
the South Africans Dudu Pukwana on alto, Mongezi Feza on trumpet and
Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums. Danny Thompson replaced Barre Philips
on one track.
Our Prayer was a trio date with Barre
Philips on bass and Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums. It ranges from
jaunty African rhythms to some rather free playing with Chris's
percussive playing keeping it all together.
As Boyd wrote in his liner notes to Up
To Earth: “One day, when critics start to absorb the
compositions, the arrangements, the orchestras, the tours, the solos,
the visions, the leadership and the musicians he inspired, Chris
McGregor will be appreciated for the giant he was.”
More information about these two
albums, plus the Chris McGregor re-releases by Fledg'ling, can be
found here: http://www.thebeesknees.com/?cat=10
Fledg'ling have undertaken a “campaign
to document Chris McGregor’s Witchseason recordings from the late
1960s early 1970s”, of which these two albums are a part.
These two albums can also be downloaded
from emusic, as well as the other Fledg'ling releases.

Township Bop

The final album of these posthumous
releases is a curious one, curious in how it came about. It is called
Township Bop and was released in 2002 by Proper Records. The
14 tracks on the album were all recorded in the Cape Town studios of
the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in early 1964. How
the tapes of these recordings came into the possession of Proper
Records is something of a mystery, and one which perhaps we should
not delve into too deeply.
What is interesting about these tracks
is that they were the first recordings made by the group which Chris
put together in Cape Town in the early 1960s and which soon became
known as the Blue Notes.
Chris was experimenting with different
musicians and different ideas and with these musicians soon went on a
tour of South Africa just before leaving for the Antibes Jazz
Festival where the Blue Notes created quite a stir that year,
European jazz fans never having heard something like this from South
Africa before. It was an eye-opener to many that such music was
happening there.

Exuberance

Chris's beloved Bosendorfer at the Moulin after his death

Altogether these seven albums add
considerably to the richness of the heritage of the South African
exile musicians. They are important documents of the South African
jazz diaspora. They are a great source of wonderful, exciting and
original jazz, with a typically South African edge despite the
European influences. To quote Joe Boyd again: “Loud, wild, fast,
abstract playing to be sure, but it seemed that for them, the best
revenge on the murderous Boers was not anger, but joy and yes,
exuberance.” And these albums are all full of that.

About Me

I am a 68-year-old retired person who is still an adult educator, life coach and writer. I live in Pretoria, South Africa, with my wife, Catherine, and ten-year-old daughter. My younger daughter's name is Caitlin after the wife of Dylan Thomas. I am an avid reader and also love listening to music of most kinds but in particular jazz and classical.